Dublin.

Ireland. Where to even begin? My holiday was the most amazing experience and the best trip that I have ever taken. The weather was wet, the cider was cold and the welcome from the people we met was warm. The people were so friendly and so helpful. It was fabulous...there aren't enough adjectives to describe it. So I'll get down to business.

Our hotel, The Arlington, was right in the heart of Temple Bar, Dublin's pub and nightclub district--score! Angela and I arrived around 9 pm Saturday night. Just enough time to throw our bags in the room, get ready and see what Dublin had to offer by way of Saturday night entertainment.

Holy. Hell.

Night one consisted of Temple Bar, one of the most popular pubs, which was incredibly packed and then Farrington's, this great little pub that played lots of acoustic and traditional music...it also consisted of 3 old men demanding to know where we were from and then talking to us from an uncomfortably close distance. Follow this up by meeting Tom, a French engineering student from Paris who is studying in Dublin. Best part? It was Tom's father who introduced us. He said we were looking at them alot--which, granted, is true. Tom looks somewhat like Sidney Crosby (no lie) and was dancing up a storm. He drew some looks.

Late to bed Saturday night, up relatively early on Sunday. Breakfast at the most amazing cafe called the Queen of Tarts--we had passed it the night before and I thought it was some type of sleazy bar. Their scones beg to differ. Sunday consisted of a tour of Dublin Castle and Christchurch Cathedral. This country takes their cathedral's seriously. It was absolutely gorgeous. Dublin Castle was slightly disappointing--more of a parliament building than a big tower & turret castle. But, that was to come later in the week.

Sunday night--back to Temple Bar following a great performance at our hotel. The hotel we were staying at has a bar in it that has a live Irish dancing show and live music playing every night of the week. Angela & I decided to check it out and see what it was like. It was, again, awesome. The dancing was great and the music was even better. We headed back to Temple Bar and there we started chatting with a couple guys, one from Australia and one from New Zealand--I think. Neither of them were exactly coherent enough to tell us where they were from or how old they were (their age ranged between 18-25, depending on which one you asked). After a quick chat, the boys were off to dance.

Another late night, another relatively early morning. Breakfast at Queen of Tart's (seriously. Their scones are worth the trip from England--from Canada--alone). After breakfast, we headed to Dublinia, an exhibit showing the Viking history of Ireland. It was pretty awesome seeing how Ireland changed throughout the course of history. At the end of the exhibit, we got to climb up a tower and look out across the whole of Dublin...another awesome thing to see. After that, we went for a general wander around Dublin, stopping at St Paul's, another fabulous cathedral. We walked around, stumbling across the oldest pub in Dublin, the Brazen Head, established in 1198 AD, then across the River Liffey to the Four Courts. We headed slowly back to our hotel, stopping at Trinity College, where the book of Kells is on display, and the Dublin public library, which is beautiful. Out again that night...a (tough) early rise again Tuesday morning.

Tuesday brought a trip to Kilmainham Gaol, a famous jail built in the 18th century. It's been turned into a museum with guided tours through the jail and a great lecture about its history and the importance it had in Irish history. Following our tour of the jail, serious retail therapy followed. Damn Dublin and its cutesy tourist-trap shops. We wandered around O'Connell street and then Tuesday night took us to the Auld Dubliner, followed by Farringtons, Temple Bar (we had to leave after a middle-aged man tried using the line "now where do I know you from, sweetheart?") and ending the night was The Quay. There, at the Quay, thousands of miles from home, I saw NHL hockey for the first time since Christmas. I had got chatting with the bartender and once he found out I was Canadian he, naturally, mentioned hockey and then turned on the TV. Promptly, I asked him to marry me (blame the cider). We needed our official engagement picture so I ended up behind the bar, which was another fun experience. With a light head (and wallet), headed home after another late night.

The early rise on our last full day was a painful one. We didn't do anything too strenuous. Following our routine of Queen of Tart's breakfast followed by me moaning about my head, we went on a tour of Drimnagh Castle which isn't very busy in mid-February apparently as Angela and I were the only people to have a tour that day. So, we had a personal tour of the castle followed by a walk around the city and then it was time for our last night out. Hitting up our favourite, Temple Bar, we had a fantastic last night. We met two English guys at the pub, Adam and Ben, who were on holiday; Ben is a student and Adam a chef. We sat around to chat most of the night...which turned out to be a difficult feat because of the loud music, huge crowd and cider-induced brain-fuzziness. They were nice guys and great to meet.

A very late night made for a very painful start to our last morning. I discovered on our first night in the hotel that our window opens up quite wide...certainly wide enough for me to hop out and onto the room. Seemed safe enough! So, out onto the roof for a last look of Dublin and then it was time to go. Still feeling the night before, it made for a long flight and an even longer coach ride back to Northampton.

Today consisted of laundry, errands, more laundry and desperately wishing that I could be back in Ireland again. Pictures soon to come via Facebook (sorry random Internet fans, FB-friend privilege only). The trip was a great experience and I can't wait for the second trip. Long weekend in April?...Watch out.

Until next time, Ireland, keep the cider cold and my stool at Temple Bar waiting.